Dry Processing SOLUTIONS
CASE STUDY GOYA FOODS AARON HAND | EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Automated Bulk Bag Dischargers Help Keep Pace With High-Speed Packaging A new distribution center not only provided four times the space to help relieve previous bottlenecks in rice, bean, and flour lines, but also needed more efficient bulk handling equipment to keep up with other high-speed functions.
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S THE LARGEST HISPANIC-OWNED food company in the U.S., Goya Foods was bursting at the seams. Though continuing to invest in its distribution center in Secaucus, N.J., it was time to open a new larger site as well. “We had run out of capacity for rice mixtures at our previous site,” says Luis Valencia, plant engineer for Goya’s new headquarters and distribution center in Jersey City, N.J. “In fact, all of the existing lines, including the bean and flour lines, were over-utilized. We were overdue for a change.” Goya imports ingredients from around the world to create more than 2,500 food products of Latin cuisine traditional to Mexico, Spain, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The new site, opened in 2015, provided four times the space of its previous facility—relieving several long-standing bottlenecks, Valencia says. Not only did the company want more space, but it wanted higher-capacity equipment to fill that space. It outfitted the new site with a high-speed pouch filling line for its rice, along with more efficient bulk handling and packaging equipment, including 16 bulk bag and rigid tote IBC discharger systems from Flexicon. “We had Flexicon equipment here already, so we knew they were reliable systems,” Valencia says. Efficiency is a key focus for these operations, Valencia notes. “The processes are relatively uncomplicated, so the simpler the process, the higher our efficiency must be,” he explains. “We’re always looking to increase quality, safety, and efficiency.”
Bringing in the materials Goya receives rice, beans, dry vegetables, and flour in 2,200-lb bulk bags, and puts spice mixtures in rigid 1,100-lb totes. Ingredients are batched to the packaging machines by gain-in-weight control.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOYA FOODS
Goya Foods packages beans, rice mixes, corn meal, and other dry products at its new facility in Secaucus, N.J. Pictured here, filled and sealed packages of Spanish rice proceed to a cartoning line.
The handling of these bulk bags was one bottleneck that needed to be improved to increase productivity. The solution came in the form of Bulk-Out BFC bulk bag dischargers, which load bags quickly by means of a cantilevered I-beam, hoist, and trolley. They provide more efficiency as well. The fast-loading units allow just two forklift drivers to serve all 16 of the site’s bulk bag dischargers, Valencia says. A single operator can load and discharge bulk bags across several product lines. After a forklift places a palletized bulk bag in front of the discharger, the operator connects the bag loops to Z-Clip bag strap holders on the lifting frame and, using a pendant, hoists the bag into the discharger. www.profoodworld.com
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| April 2021 | PROFOOD WORLD
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